The Ghosts of Death Eater Past
by The Lady Arturia
Summary: AU where all the Death Eaters that didn't die in the war or in Azkaban were released at some point. The Ministry destroyed their wands so they would be unable to perform magic and provided safe houses for them, which they couldn't leave without permission or escorts, to spend the rest of their lives in. Then, one day, they start getting murdered one by one.


**A/n: Written for the HP forum: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All prompts are the at the bottom.**

 **Thanks to Emiliya Wolfe for beta-ing.**

 **This is an AU where all the Death Eaters that didn't die in the war or in Azkaban were released at some point. The Ministry destroyed their wands so they would be unable to perform magic and provided safe houses for them, which they couldn't leave without permission or escorts, to spend the rest of their lives in. Considering this, please be aware that any characters that seem OoC are written that way for a reason.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

 **The Ghosts of Death Eaters Past**

* * *

 _She stood on the wet welcome mat, her beautiful blonde curls plastered to her face and her pretty lace dress soaked with mud. She pressed down hard on the doorbell, the shrill ringing sounding over the deafening rain. Seconds ticked past as she stood shivering in her waterlogged boots, waiting._

 _After what seemed like an inordinately long time, the door creaked open a fraction. She looked at the squat, lumpy man that peered out with a wide smile._

" _Amycus Carrow?" she asked. When the former Death Eater scowled in response, her smile widened. "A pleasure to finally meet you."_

" _How did you find this place?" he demanded in a raspy voice. "Who the hell are you?"_

 _She took a step forward. "Do you mind if I come in? This rain is going to be the death of me."_

" _You can't be here," he said, a hint of fear in his voice as he started to shut the door._

" _Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Mr Carrow." She yanked open the door and raised her wand. "You don't have to worry about anything anymore."_

* * *

"Teddy!"

He looked over his shoulder at the familiar voice and broke into a grin. "Harry! Been a while!"

"Quite a while," Harry replied, pulling Teddy into a rough hug. "I was just about to get some lunch. Care to join me?"

"Only if you're paying."

His godfather scoffed. "You never let go of an opportunity to mooch off me, do you?"

Teddy laughed, slipping his hand into his pocket. He pulled out a rusted brass button and flicked it into the air. Catching it, he said, "Isn't that your job as my godfather?"

"Why'd I ever agree to that," Harry grumbled. Then, eyeing the button, he asked, "What's that?"

Teddy pocketed it. "Nothing. What's been going on around here while I was away?"

Harry didn't reply, and Teddy glanced sideways at him, curious. His godfather sighed. "This is very confidential information—"

"You _do_ remember what I do for a living, right?" Teddy interrupted, pointing at the small badge on his lapel that had the insignia of a Hit-Wizard, with the section marking of an undercover agent.

"Right. Sorry." Harry scratched his head, sighing again. "A former Death Eater was found dead at his premises last night."

Teddy's eyes widened. "What? How? Aren't their safe houses one of the Ministry's best-kept secret?"

"Apparently not," Harry said. When he noticed Teddy pondering over it, he slapped him on the back.

"Alright," he said. "I'll pay. What d'you wanna eat?"

"Waffles," Teddy replied, patting his rumbling belly.

* * *

 _The boy peeked out from behind a tree, blue eyes watching his target. The stocky little witch sat on the far bench, hunched over, fiddling with something in her lap. As he walked closer, he noted that it was a chunk of meat she was ripping into shreds._

" _Hullo," he said, coming to stand a few feet away._

 _Her head snapped up at the sound of his voice. "Go away, little boy," she snarled, waving a hand in dismissal._

 _He stood his ground, unfazed. She returned her attention to the meat and began eating the smallest pieces, muttering and grunting as she chewed. The boy frowned._

" _That's disgusting," he remarked._

" _Scram!" she said, raising her hand like she would hit him, but the boy didn't even flinch. Instead, he reached down to pick up the pieces she had dropped and placed them back on her lap. She eyed him warily, as though she wasn't sure if he was real or not, and he smiled back._ " _Are you real?"_

" _That depends," he said, pulling out a wand and pointing it at her. "Do you want me to be?"_

 _She let out a strangled scream and fell off the bench. "No, please, no," she begged. "I was pardoned!"_

" _If you were, why're you still here?" he asked, walking up to her as she scrambled backwards._

" _No, please!"_

" _Let me help you," he said, pointing the wand at her. "Let me set you free."_

* * *

"Teddy!"

He smiled at the redhead standing outside his godfather's office.

"Hi," he said as he came to a stop before her. "What's going on?"

"Have you heard?" she asked. "Did Uncle Harry tell you yet?"

He glances at the door behind her. "I was just headed over to meet him."

She nodded. "It's best you hear it from him."

"I thought I heard you, Teddy," Harry said just then, opening the door. His expression was grim as he regarded his niece. "Rose. Were you eavesdropping again?"

Rose flushed. "I was _not_ ," she snapped, although she looked guilty of the accusation.

Harry waved them into his office. Once he'd put up silencing charms, he said, "Another former Death Eater was murdered last night. Her body was found at the park near her residence."

"I thought they weren't allowed to leave the safe house?" Rose asked, crossing her arms.

"They are, on specific days of the year, with escorts."

"And where were these escorts when she was attacked?" Teddy asked, imitating Rose's posture.

Harry sighed, rubbing his temples. "They were close by but apparently didn't hear or see anything suspicious. Nobody should've known her location."

Teddy nodded. "Who was it?"

Harry fixed sombre green eyes on him. "Alecto Carrow."

* * *

 _He stood at the edge of the pier, watching the sun sink into the horizon. The lake looked like it was on fire, burning and boiling at the same time, but the farther away from the horizon it got, the duller the radiant reds and vivid vermilions turned. And right under his feet, the lake was an unwelcoming black—the colour of his soul, he thought mirthlessly._

 _The soft creaking of the wood behind him caused him to turn and regard the tall, greasy-haired wizard with mild contempt._

" _Who are you, old man?" the Death Eater growled, flexing his triceps._

" _Matters not who I am," the grey-haired man rasped, stepping towards the other, "but who you are."_

 _The Death Eater bared his teeth. "How did you know to come here?"_

" _They all ask that," the old wizard muttered, reaching into his coat pocket._

" _Guards!" the wizard yelled._

 _The aged man listened to the sound of the water lapping at the pier for a few moments before raising his wand. "You always had more brawn than brain, Augustus Rookwood. Looks like you aren't all that you think you are, eh?"_

 _Rookwood roared and ran towards the elderly wizard, only to be thrown back as a spell collided with his chest. He shouted out in pain, and the old man eyed the black lake's undulating depths beneath him._

" _How do you feel about a little swim?"_

* * *

"Teddy!"

"I said nothing wrong," he said. "If the Aurors guarding them weren't so incompetent, we wouldn't even have one, let alone _three_ homicides on our hands."

"The guards said Rookwood tried to escape by swimming across the lake but drowned," Harry snapped, sounding tired. "There was no need to accuse them of killing him."

"We can't be sure until I conduct an autopsy on the body," Rose piped up. "But, going by the other two deaths, I don't think this is a coincidence."

"You said the bodies had no signs of physical injury?" Teddy asked her.

She shook her head. "I found evident traces of magic, but no other physical injuries, so they were most definitely killed using magic."

Harry sighed and looked at Teddy. "When did you say your next mission was?"

"It isn't for a while," Teddy replied. "I can help with this." When Harry and Rose glanced at each other, he rolled his eyes. "This is being kept top secret, isn't it? It's not like you have all that many people to rely on."

"I don't see why not," Harry said resignedly.

"Well, I better head back to the morgue," Rose said, walking to the door. "I'll see you later, Uncle."

Harry waved and murmured something before placing his head down on his desk.

"I'll come with you," Teddy said, walking out with her.

Rose glanced at him, an unidentifiable look in her eyes, but she didn't argue. "It'll be nice to have company that'll talk back."

* * *

 _She pushed her spectacles higher up her narrow nose and sniffed in disdain. The Auror blocking her way shifted, looking uncomfortable._

" _Ma'am, I understand that the Ministry sent you to double check on him due to the current situation, but we are under strict orders not to allow any visitors."_

" _I hardly think you can consider me a_ visitor," _she said in a nasal voice._ _The Auror bowed his head in apology but didn't move. She huffed in indignation._ " _I suppose you won't let me pass even if I were to bring the Minister himself?"_

 _He looked at her with a small smile. "I'm afraid I couldn't let you pass even if you_ were _the Minister himself."_

 _She sniffed. "How reassuring indeed." Spinning on her heel, she strode out of the small safe house, her heels click-clacking against the cold cement. Once outside, she circled around the house, the other Auror trailing behind her._

 _Stopping outside a barred window, she squinted up into the dark room, barely able to make out the old wizard watching her from within the confinement of his bedroom. Smiling, she reached up, as though to adjust her collar, and wrapped her fingers around her throat. She mouthed something to him, but the Auror requested she leave, and she lingered only long enough to see the Death Eater disappear from the window before acquiescing to the guard's insistence._

* * *

"Teddy!"

He jerked awake, wiping a hand across his mouth and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "What time is it?" he croaked, and Rose eyed her watch.

"Half past three."

"In the afternoon?" he asked, jumping to his feet in alarm.

"In the morning," Rose replied, patting him on the arm with a tired yawn. "Come on. We've been _summoned."_

"Bollocks," Teddy muttered as they exited the men's sleeping area and made their way to the Auror Office. "Now what?"

She muttered something about knowing just as much as he did, and he yawned, using his Metamorphmagus ability to tidy his hair.

The moment they entered Harry's office, he waved at them to sit down. "Another one, dead." Teddy began to say something, but Harry held up a hand. "This time, he passed on his own."

"Are you sure?" Rose asked.

Harry nodded. "You can conduct the autopsy later; that's not why I called you both here."

They leaned forward in anticipation.

"The Aurors guarding Avery Sr said a woman who claimed to have been sent by the Ministry went to 'check on him'."

"What woman?" both Rose and Teddy asked.

Harry's expression was grim. "That's what we've got to find out." He pushed a piece of parchment towards them. "This is a picture of her captured by the cameras. We need to find her," Harry said, tapping the picture. "She may hold the key to solving this mystery."

Rose looked towards Teddy, a knowing expression in her eyes. "Teddy'll take care of it. Won't you, Teddy?"

Teddy smiled. "Of course."

* * *

" _Shite, it's cold out here," the Auror said, running his hands up and down his body, as he came to sit beside his partner. "Your shift's up, mate. Go in and get some sleep."_

" _Naw," the other man said. "You took the longer shift last night, so I'll stay today."_

 _The Auror nodded and left without argument. It was freezing; he wasn't foolish enough to deny an opportunity to return to the warm confines of the safe house._

 _Striding towards the sole room at the back of the small hut, he pushed the door open and eyed the man sprawled across the small bed._

" _Look at you, all warm and bundled up in your bed while the rest of us are out here, suffering."_

 _He kicked the bed until the Death Eater awoke with a grunt and cast him a dirty look._

" _Fuck off," he growled, and the Auror chortled._

" _Would'ja look at that? The nerve." He reached forward to yank the blanket off of the man and tossed it on the floor. "You know 'bout what's going on, then? All your pals getting knocked off one after the other? How's that make you feel, eh?"_

 _The dark-haired man turned his back to the Auror and snored loudly._

 _It was no surprise he didn't see the Killing Curse coming._

* * *

"Teddy!"

"I hear ya," he groaned, pushing himself off the cold floor of the morgue and shuffling over to where Rose was, bent over a dead body.

"Wow. Gross," he said, looking away as she shoved her arm under the corpse's intestines.

"It's not so bad once you get used to it," she said, winking at him. He scrunched his nose at her.

"What'd you call me here for?"

"Never mind," she said, stepping away. "I thought I found something but it was a false alarm.

Teddy eyed her blood-covered gown and gloves with raised eyebrows. "I pictured you in blue, but I have to say I'm more partial to the red." She snorted. He nodded at the body. "Nothing new that's going to get us any closer to catching the culprit?"

Rose paused in her ministrations and looked up at him, her dark eyes having a sinister glint in them. "Is there something you're expecting me to find?"

He smiled, crossing his arms behind his back. "Not at all."

She returned her attention to the corpse. "Then, no."

Teddy nodded, stepping back. "I'll go back to sleep, then."

"You do that."

"Be sure to wake me up."

Rose laughed; it was a harsh, almost mocking sound that made Teddy wince involuntarily. "You can see why I would find that funny," she said, gesturing to the cut-open body before her.

The corners of Teddy's lips curled upward. "I do."

* * *

 _He eyed his reflection, smiling bitterly. Of all the ways he had expected to see the face that looked back at him, it wasn't like this. He moved away from the glass, deciding he didn't have the leisure of reminiscing and reflecting on his life. He was running out of time._

 _Although his intention had been to drag the whole thing out for as long as he could, he could stall no longer. Too much was at stake to fail now, so he had decided to jump right to the end game. It was what mattered, after all. Everything in-between only existed as a means to an end._

 _Walking through the dimly lit corridor, he turned into a doorway and made his way to the back of the room. In a rusted chair, with his arms and legs tied, sat the one man that had occupied the greater part of his nightmares._

" _Please," the wizard begged, tears streaming down his face. "Please."_

" _What is it you're asking for?" he questioned, surprised when he heard his own voice. He had thought it would sound different. Deeper. Sadder._

" _Please," the Death Eater begged again._

 _He leant forward, trailing a hand down his ragged face. "How does it feel, to be re-visited by the ghost of your past?"_

" _Please…"_

" _How does it feel," he said, kicking the chair backwards, "to be the pathetic shadow of your past self that you are?"_

 _The man whimpered, tears and snot covering his cheeks and chin._

" _Disgusting," he snarled, then calmed himself. No, he had to do this right. He reached forward, placing his wand under the man's chin._ " _How does it feel," he began again, "to die at the hands of the last person you expected?"_

" _I know you," the Death Eater finally said. "You're… You're…"_

" _Say it."_

" _The werewo—"_

" _His name was Remus Lupin!" he roared, the glass of the windows shattering from the sheer force of his magic. "And you," he stabbed the Death Eater with his wand, "you killed him."_

" _Please, please…"_

" _Stop begging. It's pathetic," he spat. "You're pathetic." He looked into the eyes of the man who he had resented his entire life. "Antonin Dolohov."_

* * *

"Teddy!"

He glanced sideways as Rose jogged up to him and continued to sip from his coffee cup. "Let me guess," he said. "Another one?"

"When do you think it'll end?" she asked.

"When the killer is satisfied?" Teddy ventured.

"And when would that be?"

He shrugged. "Yours is as good a guess as mine."

"It is, actually."

He raised his eyebrows at her, and she held out her hand. Teddy glanced down at the rusted brass button in her palm. "What is this?"

"Something you left behind somewhere you shouldn't have."

For a moment, it felt like time had stopped. Then, it started racing at twice the speed. Teddy tried to keep his expression composed. "I don't understand what you're saying."

Rose nodded and pocketed the button. "I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

"Why?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

When she looked at him, she had that same eerie glint in her eyes. "The things they did were far more unimaginable and unforgivable. You would hardly blame me for finding their deaths justified." She stepped away from him. "I'm not the only person that feels this way. You're practically a hero."

Rose smiled at him, but it made him uneasy. "You said you couldn't find any conclusive evidence from the bodies. You said the magical signatures couldn't be traced back to the caster."

She shrugged. "I lied." When he made a disgruntled face, she raised her eyebrows. "I don't think you're in a position to berate me for lying."

"Sorry."

"Are you sorry you did it, or sorry you got caught?" she asked, twisting a piece of her red hair between her fingers.

"Neither," he admitted. "I'm sorry I made you lie."

This time, her smile was more genuine. "I forgive you. But, only if you stop while you're ahead. I don't know how much longer I can cover up behind you." She reached up to smooth down his lapels. "Now. Would you accompany me back to the morgue so I can fabricate another autopsy report—" she looked up at him with twinkling eyes, "—Mr Lupin?"

Teddy smiled. "It would be my pleasure."

* * *

 **Note: the people in the italicised scenes that Teddy assumes the form of to kill the Death Eaters are all symbolic of the people those Death Eaters killed during the wars and not actual characters (except for Remus, who actually did die at the hands of Dolohov).**

 **Assignment #8: Task 1: Write about a murder being committed (for good or for ill).**

 **Also written for the Writing Club.**

 _ **Book Club**_ **\- Nina Zenik: (ability) Metamorphmagus, (word) beautiful, (food) waffles**

 _ **Show Time**_ **\- Not So Bad: (characters) Death Eaters (fic should feature at least 2)**

 _ **Days of the Month**_ **\- Guinness World Record Day: Write about being the best at something (Teddy's the best at disguising himself and pretending to be someone else).**

 _ **Count your Buttons**_ **\- Song: "Stand in the Rain" by Superchick, Object: Welcome mat, Dialogue: "I pictured you in blue, but I have to say I'm more partial to the red.", Word: collide**

 _ **Trope of the Month**_ **\- Character: Remus, Word: Lace, Dialogue: "Are you sorry you did it, or sorry you got caught?", Colour: Blue**


End file.
